 infobox country native_name archclericy of veluna common_name veluna image_coat coat_veluna gif image_map capital mitrik major_cities devarnish veluna city provinces seven dioceses each governed by a noble and a bishop; an eighth veluna city governed solely by an archbishop in the name of the canon of mitrik resources foodstuffs copper silver gold languages common velondi ferrond elven halfling gnome government_type theocracy leader_title canon leader_name hazen citizen velunese population 622 000 demographics human human osf elf elf high gnome halfling dwarf elf half-elf orc half-orc demographic_numbers 491 400 56 000 31 100 18 700 12 400 6 200 6 200 religions rao st cuthbert heironeous oeridian agricultural gods fharlanghn zilchus elf pantheon alignment lg ng ln platinum brilliant gold crook electrum staff silver tower copper hand allies furyondy highfolk bissel verbobonc kron hills ulek ulek states shield lands gran march dyvers weak all branches of the church of rao celene distrusted knights of the hart knights of luna enemies iuz ket pomarj minor knights of the watch distrusted valley of the mage distrusted perrenland distrusted footnotes culture culture culture velunians have long been considered to represent the best aspects of humanity humans and elves live in harmony within veluna farming and working together building a common culture based on the raoan tenets of peace reason and serenity the church of rao rao's influence runs throughout veluna gently enforcing the religion religion's doctrine through the administration of fair laws firm but not overly harsh veluna is reknown both for its scholars and seers and for its status as a pilgrimage site for those seeking wisdom and stability in their lives most know veluna as a peaceful nation slow to respond with violence but a solid ally in all other respects geography geography geography located between the fals gap and the velverdyva river to the east and west and between the yatils and lortmils to the north and south veluna is an important center of trade to those wishin to do business with the rich baklunish markets beyond the gap trade in veluna runs along two primary corridors; the velverdyva river where they hold a small number of settlements along the southern banks and the great western road a well-fortified path carrying much more traffic than the river most trade travels from the east into the west anchored by caravans bound for lopolla and from there the markets of ekbir tusmit and beyond military military military the basis of veluna veluna's army is a core of heavy cavalry including contigents of elven bowmen or gnomish sappers the bulk of their forces however are pikemen bulwarked by hundreds of clerics the knights of veluna a local branch of the knights of the hart also serve in a military capacity for veluna this group numbering just over 100 strong consists of politically-active men and women who command smaller independent bands of sergeants and men-at-arms most often under the command of one of veluna veluna's seven ruling families history history history the   word of incarnum   the most holy scripture to adherents of rao teaches that the lord of pease granted the humans of oerth the moons celene and luna granting them guidance from the tyranny and darkness of an age ruled by the dread god tharizdun as the oeridian hordes proceeded to surge east long before the twin cataclysms one tribe the vollar came across a large congregation of primitive flan dwelling in the lowlands between the easternmost shores of the velverdyva and the eastern bend of the fals river these flan greeted the oeridian settlers warmly welcoming their new brothers to that most sacred of all lands protected by rao the vale of luna over time all the settlers came to worship this ancient power whom they interpreted as a god of reason and serenity by the year 9 cy when the divination magics of the oeridians had combined with flan legend to locate the legendary   crook of rao   the culture of the valley had become one the place where this ancient artifact was discovered was named mitrik or salvation and a new nation was formed on the spot centuries later when the aerdi soldiers continued their westward surge spreading their empire across the land they came across the already-burgeoning culture of veluna the high canon of rao met with representatives of the great kingdom and explained to them the goals of his peaceful land mindful of the vast host leaning on his borders the canon wisely agreed to support the great kingdom seeing in the aerdi a passion for progress and innovation that could be tempered by conversion to the holy tenets of rao thus the archclericy of voll entered vassalage to the viceroyalty of ferrond under a banner of peace along with great religious expectations and if the velunese didn't care to emphasize their oeridian heritage the overking was only too happy to do it for them in the years following this arrangement veluna proceeded to serve as a moral compass for ferrond as a whole key adherents of rao gained major positions in the court of the viceroy given the warlike oeridian temper and the years of established arrogance in the west the velunese advisors had much work to do it was only after gaining the support and council of hermiod canon hermiod of laudine that the man who would become thrommel i initiated the plan to declare independence from the great kingdom as furyondy was born in 254 cy voll now officially recognized as veluna too declared sovereignty though the two states remained close the strong relationship between these two countries entered a period of hardship some fifty years later as the gentry of dyvers began aggressively courting merchant caravans that once passed through verbobonc and on to devarnish veluna city and points west the trade wear effectively choked all westward travel along the velverdyva saddling boatmen with ridiculous tariffs those who failed to comply with the taxes often found themselves mysteriously molested by wandering bands of bandits though the rao raoan hierarchy to the north largely ignored the trade difficulties the landowners in the celestial order of the moons in veluna city demanded action skirmishing between unsanctioned agents on both sides of the border resolved the issue in favor of veluna but a rift formed between veluna city and chendl in 350 cy tavish ii king tavish ii of keoland exploited the growing divide between furyondy and veluna marching an army into the southern and western holdings of the latter though avras i king avras i of furyondy protested this move as tavish expected no troops were mustered in veluna veluna's defense by 355 cy the second expeditionary force had taken devarnish and the   crook of rao   along with it halting all trade along the great west road the secular government fled veluna city in response to the military threat retreating to the safety of the canon canon's court in mitrik to ensure peace for his nation turgen iv canon turgen iv enacted the treaty of devarnish a controversial agreement that ceded control of the fals gap the western road and several southern fortresses to keoland in exchange for a halt to the invasion and guaranteed independence of mitrik and veluna city though this gambit seemed to pay off at first by 415 cy the situation descended into an unmitigated disaster berlikyn commandant berlikyn of gran march was named governor of the northern provinces and initiated a program of grim oppression within the occupied lands by 436 cy he had threatened to annex the entirety of veluna in name of the keoish crown whatever his reasons whether he finally bowed to the requests of agents dispatched by the canon or merely considered the threat of keoland too large to ignore the king of furyondy finally responded sending the armies of his country into veluna against the commandant commandant's forces they battled south of the velverdyva in a ferocious series of actions known as the short war and by 438 cy the keoish army had been expelled from veluna entirely this state of affairs didn't continue long however in 446 cy the velunese college of bishops convened to discuss the fate of their nation which many believed was controlled by greedy furyondians driven by secular goals though the conference was convened by cooler heads a contingent of orthodox cuthbertine overseers managed to rally the more conservative raoans to their cause and began to urge veluna to formally cede from furyondy in order to oppose the apostasy being fermented by wartime expansion and imperialism in an agreement known as the concordat of eademet the members of the college voted to break from the kingdom of furyondy veluna soon gained a reputation as a peaceful contemplative neighbor rarely engaging in battle or even economic subterfuge their troops have only been roused once since their formation in 569 at the battle of emridy meadows and after this victory talk has begun of a marriage between the wealthy young supreme mistress of the order jolene of samprastadar and the hero of emridy meadows thrommel iv prince thrommel iv such an act would only add to the strengthening relations between veluna and the nations of furyondy and verbobonc and many trust would be a great blow to the forces of evil 